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hoedown:
Just to clarify. I do NOT think looking at college financials is an effective means of ranking colleges with any precision. Rather, it is an effective means of learning more in a discriptive sense about private colleges. A college supporting half of its operating budget from conservative endowment spending faces a different set of challenges than one supporting essentially all of its budget from tuition.
Other data points I would turn to for building a snapshot of a private college include:
a) diversity in the student body
b) fianancial aid data, how many/how much?
c) Percentage of majors in each department. Does the school tilt one direction or another?
d) Admissions data. Do I even have a prayer of getting in or should I move on?
e) Measures of campus culture: % of varsity athletes, binge drinking rates, alcohol poisoning hospitaliations, fraternity %, and so forth.
f) The most recent strategic planning document.
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